Concerned Citizens

The census numbers are out finally and, as expected by many, Texas picked up four additional seats in the House of Representatives, bringing our total to 36. We didn’t overtake California but that’s not happening anytime in the near future. More importantly, now we have to figure out how to properly represent those additional 4.2 million Texans who are in the mix. Enter the legislative game of redistricting – a decennial game that pits the best of the best against each other in the Texas legislature, testing the wits and skills of even the best politicians in town. But there may be a better option. Read more…

Last night’s election was an interesting mid-term election in terms of how the electorate voted. While Republicans took back many seats they lost in 2008 it wasn’t the overall tsunami some had predicted, indicting that American has bought into an overall distaste of Obama and the Democrats. In Texas Rick Perry carried his lead to a victory over Bill White, possibly the best candidate Democrats could mount against Gov. Perry this election. However, even with White’s potential he could not overcome a negative sentiment against Obama, possibly counting as much as 6 points against White. But what about other aspects of the election?

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Today I stopped by my favorite early voting location to cast my vote in the 2010 statewide election. I always try to vote at Lion’s Field because it’s usually the same folks and the atmosphere reminds me of my voting location back home in Arkansas. They almost treat you like family when you vote there. It’s not a big polling location and if they got a crowd you’d be waiting outside in line until it was your time. The main thing is that I got my voting out of the way and I know my vote will be counted on election day. The question is if you have voted yet.

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White was in San Antonio today, stopping by the Fourth of July celebration at Woodlawn Lake. White had hoped to speak but the Parks Foundation apparently was unable to accommodate the request. Regardless, White spent time meeting with supporters and enjoying the family atmosphere at the park. White has been crossing the state, taking every opportunity he can to meet voters and get his message out before the November election. White is in a tie with Governor Rick Perry at 43% a piece according to a recent poll by Public Policy Polling. With the race so tight you would expect White and Perry to be squaring off mano a mano. But apparently Perry continues to be a no show. Read more…

Looking back on the Texas Democratic Party’s State Convention it turned out to be a pretty decent convention, even with the battle over the Two-Step. The mood of Democrats at the convention was optimistic with Mayor Bill White and buoyed by the recent PPP poll showing the governor’s race in a dead heat at 43% a piece. The highlight had to be how the party has embraced the new media folks at the convention. In fact, the party to be at turned out to be the Bloggers Party that went on until 2 a.m. But there are also some subtle things I saw and didn’t see at the convention. Read more…

Today is the beginning of the biennial convention for Texas Democrats. We’re all gathered here in Corpus Christi for what should be a less contentious convention compared with the one two years ago in Austin. That year Obama and Clinton were battling for the treasure trove of delegates sent from Texas to the national convention. As many of you know Clinton won the primary in Texas but ended up with less delegates than Obama thanks to Texas’ bizarre prima-caucus process. This year probably the biggest discussion expected at the convention will be over immigration reform. Read more…

Yesterday the Express-News ran an article about some of the issues facing the Bexar County Democratic Party and its new chairman, Dan Ramos. The story yesterday focused on Ramos’ hiring of a political consultant, Gina Casteñada, to help run the Coordinated Campaign for the county. For those who might be wondering  a coordinated campaign is “an effort by the party to pool its resources to ensure a strong voter turnout” according to the article. In reality, it’s where Democrats in the county donate money and time focused strictly in the county. Sounds harmless, right? Read more…

Last night Texas finished the first part of its primary process and answered the question of whether Gov. Rick Perry would be facing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in a run-off. The biggest factor in that equation was how much effect Debra Medina would have on the race. Well, Texas Republicans (and a few Democrats) answered that question for us. With 51% of the vote Perry dodged a run-off and now matches up with former Houston Mayor Bill White in November. Personally I have to feel a little pride in that I predicted 53%. 2 points off is not bad in my book. So did we learn a little more about Texas politics after the votes were counted? Read more…

Tomorrow is the election day for the Texas primaries with polling places open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across San Antonio. If you haven’t already voted during Early Voting it is important you take the time to vote at your polling place in your respective primary. If you’re not sure of your polling place you can look it up at the Bexar County Elections website. The San Antonio Express-News usually prints a list of polling places to help out also. However, you’ll need to know your precinct but you can find that out also using the same website. Remember, you don’t need your voter registration card to vote in Texas. You can show up with your TX drivers license to vote. But it’s important you exercise your right to vote so you have a voice in Texas. Read more…

On Tuesday we come into the home stretch of what has been an interesting primary season in Texas. What typically is a sort of anointing of a chosen candidate at least turned into a horse race on the Republican side between Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Kay Baily Hutchison, and Debra Medina. Hutchison made it competitive when she hinted at running as far back as mid 2009 that she was serious about running for governor. Starting with a strong war chest and leading in the polls, it seemed like hers to lose. Those turned out to be famous last words. Now with only two days until the primary election she appears to have done a good job of losing it. Read more…

Sunday I examined the Texas governor’s primaries on both the Republican and Democratic side. Based on the latest polls and some very bizarre episodes about 9/11 it is becoming pretty apparent we will have a Rick Perry/Bill White showdown for the general election in November. While Perry is not completely out of the woods just yet and could face a run-off against Kay Bailey Hutchison I really don’t see that happening based on Debra Medina’s meltdown on the Glenn Beck show this past week. But what will happen after the primaries? Who will prevail in November? Read more…

Early voting for the 2010 primaries starts Tuesday, February 16th and runs through Friday, February 26th with the general election Tuesday, March 2nd. While some like to wait to vote on the general election day I always encourage people to take advantage of early voting. First of all, you never know what might happen on election day that would prevent you from voting. By voting during the early voting period you can vote at any of the early voting locations on any day during the period including Saturdays and Sundays. Read more…

We’ve all heard the phrase about Texas weather, “if you don’t like it now, just wait a little bit and it’ll change.” This primary season the same can be said about Texas politics. What usually is a pretty bland part of the Texas election cycle has been anything but this year. Starting with the governor’s race on the Republican side and continuing into the same race on the Democratic side we’ve had nothing but fun during the period leading up to early voting starting this Tuesday, Feb. 16th. So with all the fun how is this primary really shaping out?

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This is the second in a series of posts about the 2010 Texas elections that started with a look at the Democrats. In this posting I dig into the Republican side of the Texas gubernatorial ticket which is pitting incumbent Gov. Rick Perry against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and conservative Debra Medina. It’s becoming a battle to see who can claim the title of “most conservative” of the trio and, at times, is becoming a little comical. However, there are serious issues to consider when looking at this field, mostly around a commitment of service to Texans or a desire to grandstand against the Obama administration. Of late, it appears the later goal is more important; something that could backfire in the general election in November. So let’s take a look at the Republicans vying for the governor’s seat. Read more…

As we close out 2009 and get ready to enter the 2010 state election cycle I thought it would be good to provide my readers with my perspective of some of the statewide races starting with the governor’s race, one that will most likely provide fireworks even as far back as the primaries. This will turn into a series of postings covering the various facets of the race – the Democrats, the Republicans, the Primary, the General Election, and the Spoilers. I’d do it in a single entry but each facet is becoming larger than I expected. From there I hope to dig into the rest of the election cycle, looking at down ballot races such as the Lieutenant Governor’s race and other statewide elections. For some that follow politics it will seem repetitive. For those who casually follow the series should provide a good understanding to get up to speed as we enter 2010. I encourage commentary to help expand perspective on each facet. This will make the series that much more engaging. So let’s get started. Read more…